Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Who Has the Time?

You have to be kidding me! I got an email today from a colleague who asked if I was interested in weather-based irrigation controllers as a possible grant request under an AWEP proposal. This would be an irrigation efficiency kind of approach. The actual email was a link to the EPA's WaterSense page where the agency is setting up to take a second round of public comments on equipment specifications. The EPA line is:

"EPA Releases WaterSense Revised Draft Specification for Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the WaterSense Revised Draft Specification for Weather-Based Irrigation Controllers. The revised draft addresses stakeholder comments on the initial draft released in November 2009.With more than 13.5 million irrigation systems currently installed in the United States, replacing existing standard clock timer controllers with WaterSense labeled weather-based irrigation controllers could offer significant water savings for homeowners and organizations using irrigation systems. Weather-based controllers create or modify irrigation schedules based on the landscape needs and real-time weather data."

I went to the link (EPA Watersense Page - Weather-based Irrigation Controllers) to learn a little more. YIKES! IF you were wanting to intelligently participate in the process of offering public comments, at this site you'll find 31 links and 614 pages of materials you will need to explore first! Get real! There has to be a better way! I won't be participating.

By GMD 4 District Manager

Welcome to the GMD 4 blog. I manage the Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4 which covers 3.11 million acres in all or parts of 10 Counties overlying the High Plains Aquifer (Ogallala).
Everything published here are my own ramblings on watery things I find interesting - even some of our own GMD work from time to time. Comments are welcome, but please try to make them helpful, informative and on-point. Finally, if you've come into the blog somewhere in the middle, just click the Banner to go to the Front Page.